Tag: fitness

The dogs visited me at the end of my long run on July 4. Yes, that’s a hydration pack. The dew point was around 70, with temps in the upper 70s.

Between June 30 and July 4 I put in a couple of long runs, two in five days. I couldn’t avoid it from a scheduling perspective, but it actually worked out OK.

I’m using a new marathon training plan this time around. I’m using the Galloway run/walk method. I’ve known about it and known friends who have done it, but I’d never taken the time to investigate it further until this year.

I’m doing 3 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking. The whole point behind this method is that over the course of a marathon (or even a half marathon), you are saving your legs and therefore feeling fresh (or relatively fresh) toward the end. My problem in previous marathons is that I’m pretty much tapped out by mile 20 and I have to mostly walk. If this method allows me to keep running in those last miles, that will be a vast improvement.

I am loving this method so far! It has allowed me to bump up the long-run mileage fairly quickly. By the time I started training in early June, I realized I was a few weeks behind in the training already (it’s six-month training program). So I did a quick build up each week to catch up — a couple of 8s, then a 10, 13 miles on June 30 and on July 4 a 15. This method is allowing me to save my legs. In previous trainings, no way could I have run 13 miles and then five days later run 15 miles. And I’ve completed the long runs feeling good for the rest of the day and the next day. I can move around and function and do yoga without almost any soreness.

The walk breaks also allow me some much-needed mental rest. In previous trainings, I would take a short walk break every two miles on long runs. But two miles is a long way, especially when you get further into the run and you want a break sooner than that. But with a 3-1 pattern, even when I’m tired toward the end of a run, I tell myself, it’s only three minutes. You can run for three minutes and then you get a break.

You might think it’s boring to run/walk that far. On July 4 I was out there for three hours, counting by 3-1 the whole time. But actually, it gives me something to think about and makes the time go by faster. I find myself focusing only on the next three minutes, then the next minute. I think it’s keeping me more in the moment — which is such a yoga thing to do!

The newness of this approach and the focus it gives me on runs is actually making me look forward to the long training runs. That has never been the case before!

But I can’t say that training for a marathon is easy for me. Though I’m feeling better on my runs and after, some challenges remain:

* I’m kind of always tired. Some days are better than others, but by evenings I’m usually wiped out.

* As always, I’m squeezed for time. There’s work, and there’s running, and if I can fit in some other things, that’s great, but it doesn’t always happen. Right now I’m also trying to focus on my writing and my yoga practice, so when I do that there’s really not a lot of time for anything else.

* Oh, and the heat! I love, love, love fall marathons. But that means you’re doing the bulk of your training in the summer. I used to be really resistant to the heat but I am learning to embrace it, so actually training this summer hasn’t been as bad as other summers.

Overall, knowing that I’m running for a cause this time around casts a whole new, exciting light on this adventure!

I’ve known Becky Fjelland (Davis) Brooks for I don’t know…13, 14 years? She’s that type of friend who you don’t even remember first meeting…you just feel like you’ve been friends from birth. I DO know that I started biking with her in 2007 and in that year, she invited me to join her writing group, which had already been meeting for about three years.

This is a woman a generation older than me (she technically could be my mom, though she would have been a very young mom, lol!). However, she could always kick my butt on the bike! Which from Day 1 earned my respect and admiration. Even though she could kick my butt, she didn’t act like it. Becky is a woman that wants ALL women to bike and be active and is the hugest supporter of women and fitness — ZERO competition! I can’t tell you how many times she’s ridden with me WAY more slowly than she could have — but she just wanted to be supportive and have social time!

On Sunday, June 17, this woman won her age group at the National 24-Hour Challenge bike race in Caledonia, Michigan! Did I mention that her age group is 60-64?! Becky rode her bike for 24 hours, only stopping briefly for bathroom breaks and snacks. She completed 349.5 miles during that time to set the age-group record.

Less than three years ago, Becky suffered a brain aneurysm as she was preparing to go out for a December ride. This 24-hour challenge was her goal as she recovered.

“My son and I were kind of joking, ‘In two years, we’ll go back to the 24-hour race.’ It was a joke — but also a carrot,” she told the Mankato Free Press in the June 15 edition.

The one and only time I could keep up with Becky was when I went out with her on her first rides after her aneurysm, in the summer of 2016. I told her, “The only time I can keep up with you is when you’re recovering from a brain explosion!” LOL!

Becky is the ultimate role model. This is precisely what I love about her:

“People write things off when they get to 50, 60 years old and think they’re not going to get back,” she said. “But we can. We can do more than we give ourselves credit for. I made training a priority. I made getting in shape a priority. And it worked.”

I’m training for a fall marathon and Becky is a major inspiration. If she can get on her bike for 24 hours at the age of 61, surely I can run for 5 hours at the age of 43. If she trained hard during a harsh Minnesota winter, I can get out there for training runs during a Minnesota summer.

No excuses. We all have the power to change our lives, to change our level of fitness.

Let Becky lead the way!

Becky is also a super impressive middle-grade/young-adult/essay writer. Read more of her writing here.

I spent a couple of hours on Sunday, Dec. 31, with fellow yogis and other beautiful women at Melanie Williams‘ house to reflect on 2017 and set intentions for 2018. I’m so grateful for the time to think mindfully about accomplishments, challenges, and what I’d like to do in the new year.

When it came time to draw cards, I drew the one above. Or really, the card drew me. I couldn’t imagine a more meaningful card to set my 2018 intentions.

The text that goes along with the card is as follows:

“You are a clear channel for Divine creativity.

“There is a spark of creativity in you, and you have every reason to move forward with optimism and hope. Open yourself to inspiration and allow life to show you its beauty and your part in co-creating it. This is the perfect time to give birth to an idea, start a new relationship or job, or begin any endeavor. Attraction is high as you connect with others who can co-create joyous experiences and join with you in expressing the finer aspects of life. Watching a spark turn to a flame and stoking that fire is a gratifying activity.”

I spent most of 2017 not being able to work on my own projects. I was stuck in the past and one big project demanded all of my creative attention. I finally wrapped up that project (hopefully, for good) in mid-December and turned my attention to a long essay that’s been percolating for a while. I have missed creating my own things, so I believe that’s why I was drawn to that card.

I’ve only taught a couple of yoga classes so far but the process of creating a sequence feels a lot like writing. What do I want people to take away from a class/essay? How do I build from that core concept? How can I form a sequence (of words, of poses) that will yield the results I want my students/readers to come away with?

The “co-creating joyous experiences” pertains mightily to my yoga teaching. That is exactly what I intend to do in my classes! Please join me in creating joyous experiences for your body and soul!

I’m teaching at Fitness for 10 in Mankato at 6 a.m. Tuesdays/Thursdays.

Oils, candles, and other good stuff at the center of the room at Melanie’s on New Year’s Eve.